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Getting involved couldn’t be any easier. Sign up to be a food donor, neighborhood coordinator, or donate money to support the project.

Be A Food Donor

The Groton Neighborhood Food Project was started to make it easy for people to donate food to Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry. We realized that many of our neighbors wanted to help fight hunger in our community, but for one reason or another, never got around to it.

We make it easy: simply buy one extra nonperishable food item each week when you go to the supermarket, and we will pick it up from you on the designated pick up dates.

Be A Neighborhood Coordinator

Get to know your neighbors… Organize a small group of neighbors and friends to be Food Donors. Each donor gets a reusable Food Project bag to store food in. Every two months you pick up their full bag, leave them an empty one, and bring all the bags you collect to Loaves & Fishes, where they are unloaded, received and sorted.

Be A Neighborhood Coordinator

Get to know your neighbors… Organize a small group of neighbors and friends to be Food Donors. Each donor gets a reusable Food Project bag to store food in. Every two months you pick up their full bag, leave them an empty one, and bring all the bags you collect to Loaves & Fishes, where they are unloaded, received and sorted.

Donate A "Virtual" Food Bag

Live outside the community? Out of town on collection day? Don’t like to shop? You can still impact our mission by supporting Groton Neighborhood Food Project. Make a donation via PayPal® and your tax-deductible donation will go toward feeding more of our neighbors.

Become A Neighborhood Coordinator

Before you decide whether to become a Neighborhood Coordinator, you probably have some questions. We’ve answered the most common ones below.

What does a Neighborhood Coordinator (NC) do?

It’s amazingly simple. You organize a small group of neighbors to be Food Donors. Each donor gets a reusable Food Project bag to store food in. Every two months you pick up their full bag, leave them an empty one, and bring all the bags you collect to Loaves & Fishes, where they are unloaded, received and sorted. You also send out a few reminders to your donors during the two months, so they don’t forget the pickup date. That’s all there is to it.

How much food will people donate?

We suggest that Donors buy one extra nonperishable food item each week when they go to the supermarket, but it’s really up to them. Some folks will donate a lot, some a little. The amount is not important— as long as they’re participating, the Groton Food project is a success.

How much time does being an NC involve?

Only a few hours a month! You might need to put a little more time in at the beginning when you’re building your neighborhood. But it’s a surprisingly small time commitment, considering how big a difference you’ll be making.

How do I pick the area that’s MY neighborhood?

Within some limits, your “neighborhood” is wherever you say it is, and it’s as big or small as you want it to be. It can be a few houses, a whole street, or several blocks. The most important thing is for you to feel comfortable with the area you pick. One of the benefits of being an NC is that you’ll wind up with a better sense of where you live and who your neighbors are. So pick an area that you want to know better. If you want, you can start small and expand your neighborhood over time.

How do I build a Neighborhood?

Two ways: 1) Ask neighbors you already know to join the Food Project, and/or 2) Canvass your neighborhood. Most NCs start by asking their nearby friends and acquaintances. When they’re ready, they start knocking on a few doors— which is a great way to get to know neighbors.

What happens on pick up day?

Our pickup day is the 2nd Saturday of each even month (Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec). Each Food Donor puts their green food bag out by their front door. You pick up each bag, leave an empty one and a “Thank You” card (which we’ll supply), and take the food to Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, between 11:30am and 12:30pm. Food pantry volunteers will be there to accept, weigh, and sort your donated food bags. When we get a total weight for the entire pickup, we’ll let you know so you can let your Food Donors know how much of an impact their work is having.